After my recent tree post, I have been thinking about the oldest known tree. Most of my research has returned the above tree, a Bristlecone Pine that has been named Methuselah.
It is 4,852 years old, and located in California, near the border with Nevada. The exact location is kept secret by the US National Parks Service.
That means it started growing in 2,830 BC, during the Bronze Age. Long before the empires of Ancient Greece and Rome were established.
Now that’s what I call an ‘old tree’.
This ancient Tree certainly has character!
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I agree. Fascinating to imagine how long it has watched the world go by.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It is hard to get my head wrapped around that age. If only trees could talk.
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I would enjoy chatting to the 280 year old Oak tree in my back garden, Jennie. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Oh, yes! Best to you, Pete.
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It would probably have many interesting things to tell you. I imagine it might not be so complimentary about some aspects of human behaviour!
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I doubt trees would have a single good thing to say about humans, WN.
Best wishes, Pete.
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What he may have seen over the times? Thanks for sharing the information, Pete! xx Michael
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Thanks, Michael. I do love ancient trees.
Best wishes, Pete.
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They are wonderful, but looking at them makes one feeling much more older. 😉 xx Michael
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Reblogged this on NEW BLOG HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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I hope no one finds it. Can you imagine graffiti on such a marvel?
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I would be afraid someone would burn it or vandalise it, Cindy.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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Yep. I hope they keep it hidden forever…
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I’ll never forget seeing Stonehenge in 1979 and able to hug, climb, sit on the rocks. Then I returned in 2007 and I was not allowed to get near them. Just a walking track around them. All because somebody stupid felt the need to mark on them.
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Yes, the selfish people ruined a wonderful experience, leaving us with an expensive ‘Visitor Centre’ instead. Philistines! x
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xx
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Wow! I actually used a pic of this tree without realising what it was. Wow, again!
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It is a very impressive age, Shaily.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Wow that tree looks amazing, its stunning. Every time I go out and see all sorts of trees I use to take picture of it, I find them quite fascinating and each tree has a different story to tell.
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Thanks, Daphny. I love all trees, especially very old ones.
Best wishes, Pete.
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You’re welcome Pete, I do too both old and new.
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Wow that is one beautiful tree you got.
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It is quite close to the house. We have two on our property, though not as big as that one.
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Still must be nice to have trees around you.
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Oh yes, they are everywhere here in Beetley. 🙂
Our tree in the back garden is 280 years old. The houses were built around the Oaks, as they are protected by law.
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They are doing such a fantastic job protecting trees.
Wow that is old, I don’t know if we have trees that old around here. Every time I visit places just try my best taking some good pictures of trees around though I can tell you for sure aren’t old.
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This is amazing.
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I love trees, and seeing this photo of the oldest one is a treat.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hard to imagine
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I bet it feels a ‘bit tired’ by now, Eduardo.
Best wishes, Pete.
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The oldest tree here is a Tamarind tree and it’s still living …I love trees I could sit and look at them for hours the complex way some of them grow it fascinates me x
https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/records/tha/
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Thanks for adding that link, Carol.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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And I thought I was old.😎
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I’ve stopped looking in mrrors, unless I am shaving. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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that is incredibly amazing. hard to imagine all of the things its lived through
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The history of much of human life on Earth. Humanity pales by comparison.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I responded to Webb Blogs, but I’ll add that there are groves of bristlecones right here in the Spring Mountains. You may recall that I have visited Raintree a few times. It’s over 3,000 years old.
Internet photo:
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Thanks, David. I do recall you telling me about the Bristlecones previously.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Methuselah seems on its last legs, but I think I see new growth on the left side?
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It is classified as ‘living’. Then again so am I! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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🤣
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This one in Cyprus, an ancient pepper tree. https://fragglerocks.smugmug.com/Places/n-KwR4P/Cyprus-2006/i-zXPSjxN
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Thanks for the link, FR.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for this. The Wollemi Pine is another old tree. It was thought to be extinct, but then a stand of them was discovered by people bush walking in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. The location remains a secret.
http://www.wollemipine.com/
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Thanks very much for adding that link, Peggy.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Trees are amazing, how they stand sentinel in our yards, grow up with our kids, shelter us from the sun, harbor our secrets. It’s the energy that surrounds a tree that is so attractive. I’ve never heard of this particular tree but I appreciate it’s longevity. Hugs, C
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Not too far from you, Cheryl. You can go and see other Bristlecones in the National Park, and many are almost as old.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s the bristlecone pine which was sung about by Rumer and written by Hugh Prestwood:
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Thanks for the link, David. She has a very nice voice.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I just listened to this song. I love the subject matter, and how the lyrics by Hugh Prestwood treat it on a personal and emotional level, beautifully interpreted by Rumer. Thank you for introducing me to Rumer!
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I have a Rumer CD somewhere, her first one I think.
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Wow that would be interesting to see. It’s located about 3 hours from me. With its exact location kept secret I’m guessing that taking a picture with it is probably not going to happen 🤔
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I live in Las Vegas, and have been to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California several times over the years. So it’s over four hours away from here. The drive to the visitor’s center (elev. 9,846 ft. / 3001 m) via White Mountain Road is quite scenic, as you can look out across Owens Valley beyond Bishop (elev. 4,150 ft. / 1265 m) to the spectacular Sierra Nevada range. I have also driven further north on White Mountain Road to a higher elevation grove of bristlecones. That grove is not to be overlooked because there are no other trees mixed in with them.
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Wow how exciting. I would love to take that drive some day, I bet it is beautiful.
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Probably not, but there are other very old Bristlecones in the National Park, I believe.
Best wishes, Pete.
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This shows we have some very close competitors too.
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/cook/sec6.htm
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Yes, the Sequoias are catching up on the Bristlecones, and of course are so much bigger.
Thanks for the link, GP.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Sure thing. You had gotten my curiosity up and I had to go searching.
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Quite a gnarly but beautiful tree! I guess at that age, it’s okay to be gnarly! I don’t recall seeing any Bristlecone Pines before, but I have seen other old trees – in the 3,000 year old range – in the Sequioias, not only old but also the largest living trees on earth.
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Yes, those Sequoias are much, much larger, Susanne.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Very cool……chuq
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I love trees, chuq.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Me as well….I have planted many trees on my property…..chuq
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It’s had to conceive of a living tree that old!
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That’s only the one we know about, Liz. I have no doubt there are older ones somewhere.
Best wishes, Pete.
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*hard
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🙂
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Amazing. There are some very old yew trees on anglesey
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The Oak in my back garden is 280 years old. I thought that was pretty old, but it’s nothing compared to this one.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Wow. That’s still v impressive. Dr Johnson could’ve seen it as a sapling!
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I’ve always appreciated the effort that has gone into keeping its location a secret. For once, our government has done something right and through various administrations and political parties for at least 65 years. 🌳😀
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Yes, when they get it right, it is good to praise them for their judgement.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Amen to that!
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I can see why its location is secret. Too many vandals delight in destroying just such trees for fun.
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Sadly, we know they would do just that.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Way cool!
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I love trees, Pejj.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I do too! I have loved them since I was a kid. To me they have personalities.
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It looks good for its age. Warmest regards, Theo
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Agreed. I would hate to see what I look like at that age. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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That’s what I was thinking, I wonder what I would look like at that age. Warmest regards, Theo
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Can you imagine how the earth would look had mankind not arrived? I think about that in this region – what it must have looked like when my ancestors arrived.
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We certainly managed to ruin most of nature’s hard work, Maggie.
Best wishes, Pete.
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There’s an old one in Greenwich Park I think, but not as old as the tree you describe.
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This was the oldest one I could find a record of. Makes my Oak in the garden seem like a ‘toddler’.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Extraordinary. Somewhere else this morning I saw a post from someone claiming that the oldest tree…3,000 and some years is in Greece but I’m not sure if that was oldest living. Methuselah looks a bit dead? I am still impressed, whatever the case. Makes human life seem so insignificant…all our dramas…a puff of wind blows them all away…
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It does look dry, but it is not dead, according to what I have read. I suspect it would have fallen over if the roots had died.
Best wishes, Pete.
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